Long story short: Star Trek into Darkness was a good follow-up to the 2009 Star Trek reboot, but it could have been better. For instance, they had so much potential in how they could have cast Benedict Cumberbatch, but instead they went in a rather unoriginal direction. Don’t get me wrong; Benedict Cumberbatch was his usual amazing self; it’s just that J. J. Abrams didn’t do him any favors by casting him as a character made famous by the legendary Ricardo Montalban. Those are hard shoes to fill. And I noted, rather unhappily, that Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban’s performances as Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy did not seem as exceptional as they had in the first movie.

However, what I found pleasantly surprising was Chris Pine’s performance as Captain Kirk–he had actually improved from the first movie. And, of course, it was nice to see Scotty playing a larger role as well. In addition, my Whovian self was delighted to see Noel Clarke make his appearance.

So just because the movie could have been better doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. And that doesn’t mean that you won’t enjoy it, either.